Help for Your Skinny Jeans

By Elizabeth Barker

coffee If you’re trying to drop a jeans size or two, sipping green tea may shore up your efforts. In tests on mice, researchers at Penn State recently discovered that a compound found in green tea might fight might fat buildup. Known as epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), the compound appears to reduce the body’s ability to absorb fat while enhancing its ability to use fat.

For the study, scientists placed a group of mice on a high-fat diet for six weeks. Compared to a control group of animals, those fed an EGCG-enriched diet packed on pounds 45 percent more slowly over the course of the study.

Although the mice consumed the human equivalent of about 10 cups of green tea daily, the study’s authors suggest that drinking just a few cups of green tea per day may help promote weight loss. “Human data—and there’s not a lot at this point—shows that tea drinkers who only consume one or more cups a day will see effects on body weight compared to nonconsumers,” notes author Joshua Lambert, Ph.D.

In past studies, scientists have demonstrated that green tea may ease hunger by slowing up the effects of catechol-O-methyltransferase (an enzyme that contributes to the breakdown of brain chemicals involved in regulating appetite). What’s more, some preliminary research suggests that certain antioxidants found in green tea could help speed up your metabolism.

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